Dual training worldwide

For half a year now 26 young men in Nové Mesto, a northern distract of Bratislava, Slovakia, have stood at the workbench for several days a week, and on the other days gone to school. They are completing their education as industrial and construction mechanics. The special feature: when they have finished this course of studies, they will receive a double qualification: a school leaving certificate and a vocational qualification. “This pilot project is intended to set an example and show other companies that it is worth investing in dual education”, said Georg Schütte, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), at the launch of the educational programme.

Worldwide demand

The German model of dual education, in which young people are prepared for a career by a combination of practical training in a company and education at a vocational school, is increasingly popular worldwide. In an arrangement with Germany three years ago, and with the participation of the European Commission, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Slovakia and Latvia have agreed to adopt the structures of the dual educational system. Russia uses the same system to train mechatronic technicians, warehouse logisticians, bakers and cooks; in India the first group of young people are being introduced to the foundations of metalworking; and in Brazil toolmakers are also completing a dual education. Cooperations also exist with China and Thailand. And in Malaysia there is already a qualification based on the German master craftsman qualification. Implementation, however, is not always so easy: Slovakia, for example, first had to put a new Vocational Training Act into effect before the system could be launched.

Because of the high demand, there has existed for over two years at the Federal institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) a central German Office for International Cooperation in Vocational Education and Training – GOVET for short. It handles all enquiries about the German vocational training and education system. In 2015 people from 84 countries requested information. About 40 per cent came from ministries, embassies and government agencies, and one quarter from the business sector.